Indonesian Local Food You Have to Try!

If you are in Indonesia or are planning to come here, don’t forget to try our local food. Indonesia has been known as a heaven of culinary. You can try any kind of taste in our local food, either it’s spicy, sour or sweet. I have a list full of Indonesian local food you must try when coming here.

Nasi Goreng

It’s already midnight and suddenly you’re feeling hungry? Don’t worry, you can put your coat on and look for some tent on the street-side of Jakarta. If you found its banner is written with “Nasi Goreng”, just stop by and order a plate of it.

Nasi goreng is basically a fried rice with a full of local spices. The taste itself can be spicy or sweet, depend on how your order it. A regular type of Nasi Goreng usually served with a fried egg, either served as omelet or sunny-side-up, cracker, pickled, tomato, cucumber, etc. In addition, this kind of food can be sold also by a restaurant or in the seller’s cart.

Rendang

It’s has been claimed as the most delicious food in the world, and it was coming from West Sumatra. Rendang is basically a beef that cooked with a coconut milk and some local spices until it dries enough and has a unique texture. A well-prepared Rendang can be stored for more than a month without you’re getting a stomachache after eating it.
The presentation and appearance are not that important for the chef. As long as it has a good taste, people will come and come again to your restaurant to buy your Rendang.

Sate Ayam

Sate Ayam is a grilled chicken that skewered in a palm-leaf rib. Usually, it’s served with ketchup sauce, but with a soy sauce with the slices of chili and onion is also okay. The President of US, Barrack Obama, was treated with Sate Ayam, and he’s quite enjoying the food. You can eat it with a plate of rice. Or if you want, you can ask the seller to serve it with “lontong”.

Bakso

It is basically a meatball that served in a bowl with its soup, noodle, bihun or sometimes tofu. You can also add some ketchup or sambal in your bowl for a more flavorful taste. It is sold by both a restaurant or a movable cart. The bakso itself is sold in a various size, from a marble size to a tennis ball size. Usually, it has some filling also in it. Commonly, the seller put a slice of an egg or some beef tendon in it.

Gado-Gado

It’s an Indonesian salad, that consists of local vegetables such as kangkung, sweet corn, cabbage, spinach and sometimes tofu then served with a peanut sauce and cracker. The taste is so yummy, yet the price was so cheap that you can afford it just for IDR 10,000 only.

So, that was my list of Indonesian local food you have to try when visiting here. Surprisingly, the food that I have just presented wasn’t that expensive. It’s very affordable yet so common that you can find it anywhere, from a street-side store or even in a fancy restaurant. With a different price of course.

I hope that this article was useful for you as a cuisine recommendation
when visiting Indonesia. See you again in my next article.